Chapter 113 (1/2)
Chapter 113 Warning
Since the end of the Month of the Demons, it has only rained for two days in the West, all the other days had been sunny days, apparently, this was compensation for all the snow during the winter. The musty air in the office had also been swept away, becoming fresh and clean as nature, and when he opened the windows the sweet smelling fragrance of spring would sometimes float into the room.
At this time, the road between Border Town and Longsong Stronghold had nearly been restored to its former quality. But with each passing day, Roland would become particularly more concerned about the matter with the stronghold.
Every year after the return of land traffic there would also be merchants coming to Border Town selling their fresh goods, but until today he had yet to see any merchant coming in from Longsong Stronghold. Lightning was by now flying two times a day to Longsong Stronghold, to ensure that they would have an early enough warning to be well prepared for the enemy’s arrival.
Over the past week, the First Army has entered the comprehensive exercise stage, which included setting up the defensive line in order to welcome an enemy’s attack and also trained in how to pursue and attack an enemy. For the former they heavily relied on Lighting to always inform them of the distance between them and the enemy, the artillery and gun teams would shoot according to her orders – making it much easier, regardless of whether it concerned giving orders or acting on given orders. For example: Shooting solid shelling at 800 meters and 500 meters, while using canister shelling when the enemy approached 300 meters, and firing with firearms at 50 meters and so on. As long as they saw Lightning raising the corresponding flag, the team leader would then give the signal to his team to attack.
The key for the victory on the battlefield laid in the pursuit and attacking stage. According to Roland’s plan, when the enemy was defeated, they would turn around and retreat to Longsong Stronghold, for which they would also need to use three days. Even if the Duke fled on his own, leaving his militia and the hired mercenaries behind, he would still need two days for the journey, so he had to stay for at least one night out in the wild.
This gave the First Army the perfect chance to chase them. The whole process of monitoring would be done by Lightning, while the first army would always be out of the enemy’s scouting distant but ready to catch up at any moment. The artillery and ammunition would be transported by the town’s civilians. When the enemy had established their night camp, it was time for the First Army to completely encircle them, and at dawn of the next day they would start the attack, completely annihilating the opposition.
Even though the plan didn’t seem complicated, it was almost impossible to coordinate the two troops because of the absence of any modern communication devices. Roland could only hope for the witches, to make up for the lack in communication. How the final result would end up, even he himself was unsure.
Another critical point was that his gunpowder reserves were running low, because of this the First Army was unable to use live ammunition during their comprehensive exercises. However, the main goal of the training had been to increase the Gunner Team’s and Artillery Team’s collaboration, as well as the coordination between the First Army and the witches. Roland has sent people to go further down the Shishui River to Fallen Dragon Ridge and Redwater City, hoping to find new sources of saltpeter. If I’m unable to replenish my reserves of gunpowder, I am afraid after two more fights, the guns in the hands of the First Army could only be used as spears, Roland thought.
Roland wrote a number of items he had to procure on paper which included saltpeter, grain, seeds and other supplies, he intended to send one of Barov’s apprentice to the King’s City to try his luck. That place had sufficient merchandise, it especially had enough saltpeter – with the summer approaching, the King would surely have started to gather saltpeter by now. As a city filled with wealthy aristocrats and also wealthy merchants, when the weather started to get hot, the consumption of saltpeter would become staggering. He hoped to find a stable supplier who could provide Border Town with a stable stream of the raw materials needed to produce gunpowder.
Prior to this, he had already sent out two of his personal guards, one to implement the plan called “Gathering the Witches” and another to work on the “finding the fruit” program.
The former had posed as either a traveler or a businessman, and spread out through the streets and lanes, pubs and other places the rumors of Border Town being a safe haven for witches. Of course, it hadn’t been said that the host was the 4th Prince himself, instead he news that spread had been that they had been able to find the Holy Mountain, and that the Witch Cooperation Association was now looking to recruit new members.
The other had gone directly to Clearwater Port, and purchased some peculiar crops from the Fjords from across the ocean. Of course, when he found any particular seeds in any of the city’s on the journey, he had also sent them back.